Pokemon 2006: Shadow and the Dark Aura Master
by ZachaRicO
Summary: A secret mission quickly becomes a race against time when Shadow discovers a mysterious villain who appears to be planning the destruction of the world. But is that really his plan? Or is it much more complex than that? With an unlikely ally's help, Shadow intends to get to the bottom of this. Sonic 06 Pokemon Crossover. Contains Advanceshipping in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Again, I'm not feeling up to finishing Silver's story right now, as it would also give potential spoilers. So now I'm gonna start Shadow's story! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: A Secret Mission<p>

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a calm, peaceful night. The only noise disturbing such a peace was the clanking of a robot legion as it shifted uneasily in place. Smoke from the hidden base in Sinnoh's Route 216 billowed softly into the sky, and the overall atmosphere was conflicted at best and disruptive at worst. Most all was quiet.

Then a zinging noise shook the robots to attention, fully alert, not that this would help them any. Before they could do anything, a blurred figure shot out of the cave that descended under Mt. Coronet and raced towards them. Immediately, they raised their arms and fired, but the figure didn't so much as flinch as he shot straight through their ranks, leaving a trail of explosions in his wake. When he reached the back of the legion, he jumped up over the wall, knocking another robot down as he did so, and paused a moment to gather his bearings. A spotlight slowly glided by him, and he hid from its sight.

A small beeping came from his waist, and he quickly pulled out a mobile video phone. A man's face appeared on the screen. "Are you there?" came the voice.

He nodded. "Yes."

"All right. You know what you need to do. I don't know what that Eggman's gonna do with the wing, but whatever happens can't be good."

He raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "Just what kind of Pokemon are we dealing with?"

"That is irrelevant. Understand, however, that if the wing is in the wrong hands, disaster is bound to ensue. I've been careful with it"

"Fair enough. All right. Where's is it?"

"It's in a dungeon. Apparently someone else got it first, but they were caught and imprisoned. Even so, they still have it. You need to get it from then, then come back as soon as you have it. Go now, and hurry! I'm counting on you...Shadow the Hedgehog."

Shadow nodded. "Understood." With that, he closed down the phone. "Initiating the mission...now." With that, he disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Eggman's placement of this secret base on the side of Mt. Coronet was rather smart," Shadow mused as he stole through the defenses. "If I could move faster I would, but instead I have to walk uphill." He smirked slightly. "He doubtlessly designed it like this to counteract Sonic and, inadvertently, me." Normally, he would blast through it all, but his client had requested secrecy, citing serious disaster unlike anything the world has ever seen. "After all the trouble Cyrus caused?" he muttered. "What else could be worse than that?<p>

With that, he continued his infiltration of the base, stealing through corridors and using Chaos Control whenever he could do so without attracting any attention. He checked his radar and saw that the dungeons weren't far off. As quickly as he could, he stole away and found the cell he was looking for. He took out the robot from behind and threw the cell door open. He nearly fell over when he saw who was in there.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me…"

* * *

><p>Shadow continued to steal through the base, escapees in tow. His mood had gone from generic to sour in a matter of five minutes because of who tailed him now.<p>

"Gee, ya gotta wonder when was the last time that Egghead did a health inspection of this place," Meowth mumbled.

"I'm going to need to take my pills on double dose from now on," James complained.

"I need a new hairdo," Jessie whined.

"Shut up you idiots!" Shadow hissed. "Unless you want me to throw you back into that cell, you better shut your trap, or I'll shut you up myself!"

The rest of their expedition through the base was remarkably quiet.

* * *

><p>Finally, they came to a clearing, and Shadow slowed his pace. "All right," he nodded. "All we need to do now is get back to HQ."<p>

"Please don't tell me we're being arrested," James whimpered.

Shadow turned towards the Team Rocket agent and scowled. "My mission was to retrieve that wing you idiots tried to steal. If you didn't have it, I would have left you for the worms. Consider it my good deed for the decade."

"If this is your good deed, I'd really hate to see a bad one," Meowth retorted.

"You treat us worse than our boss," Jessie grumbled.

"Whatever," Shadow snapped. "Where is it? My client told me I needed to get it back to him as soon as possible."

"Here," James shuffled through his pockets and fished it out, but his hands slipped, and the wing fell a few feet from them.

"Ugh! Nice going, butterfingers!" Jessie growled.

"I had a solid grip, too," James sighed.

"TARGET LOCATED."

They all snapped at that as a small legion of robots flew in on the ball, resting in the snow.

"Aw, great," Meowth grumbled. "And here I thought we'd made a clean break."

"Let's just get this over with," Shadow growled. With that, he jumped up and slammed a robot over the head, effectively destroying it. He easily took out the rest of the legion, using little of his Chaos power, and snatched the wing, tossing it to Jessie.

"Move!" he yelled at Team Rocket. With that, they gathered around him, and they saw their environment fade from view.

When they could see clearly again, Shadow started. "Wait...this isn't right."

"Hm?" Team Rocket looked at him, puzzled. "But you never mess up," James reminded him.

"No, I don't," he agreed. "I was trying to get back to HQ. Where are we?"

They looked around, taking in their environment. The small town was clearly inland, but it had a blue hue to it.

"Say!" Meowth exclaimed. "We're back in Cerulean City!"

"He's right!" James nodded. "Look. There's the gym!"

"Cerulean City?" Shadow repeated. "Where's that?"

"Inland of Kanto," Jessie explained. We're close to Cerulean Cape, the northernmost area in the region."

"How far is Indigo Plateau?"

They regarded him with puzzlement. "It's nearly on the other side of the region."

Shadow facepalmed. "Oh, great. JUST great. I wanted to get over there in one run, and instead I'm stuck over here?!"

"Why doncha just use Chaos Control?" Meowth inquired. "It makes it easier, right?"

"If I knew of Indigo Plateau's exact location, yes. But I've never been there before."

"Wait," James butted in, "didn't you just use it to get here?"

"No."

"Then how –"

"An extractor," he explained. "My client gave me one to get from Eggman's base to HQ. Something must have gone wrong."

"Well, I guess while we're here we can catch up with some old friends," Jessie smirked, although she was being sarcastic.

"Don't even think about making a scene," Shadow growled. "I'm on a top secret mission, and the last thing I need is three idiots screwing it over."

"Fair enough," Meowth shrugged, walking over to a sign. "Ah, the good ol' gym."

Shadow looked at what they were peering at, intrigued. "Gym?"

"Yep. Cerulean City Gym."

Shadow eyes the sign curiously. It displayed some art of an underwater scene, featuring several well-known water Pokemon swimming about, along with a red-haired mermaid.

"And there's the leader," James nodded. "The red-haired twerpette. She's certainly attractive –" Jessie slammed him over the head. Shadow rolled his eyes when his eye caught a notice posted on the gym sign:

_Annual Water Festival_

_This Saturday_

_Trainers and Coordinators Welcome_

_Tournament at 7 PM_

Shadow looked uneasy. "That's not good. Not good at all. I need to get out of here before then."

"Why?"

"For secrecy's sake. If I'm seen by too many people, there could be an uproar." He'd become quite the celebrity since the Millennium Comet's appearance a year ago.

"Hm…" Jessie mused. "Well, if your extrizor needs any working –"

"Extractor!"

"Right. If it needs help, we can try to fix it for you."

Shadow raised an uneasy eyebrow, but he shrugged. "Fair enough. Just give me the wing so I know you don't plan to run off."

Jessie sighed and obliged. "I guess fair's fair, hm?"

Shadow nodded. "Fair and square."

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think? Feel free to rate and review, and stay tuned for the next exciting chapter!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Dark Times

Shadow kept a low profile in Cerulean, intent on not attracting any attention. He didn't trust Team Rocket, but as long as he had the wing, they wouldn't want to leave him hanging. They had their eyes on the little trinket. He smirked slightly. For all their ingenuity in building mechs that would accomplish their dirty goals, they still lacked competence to steal anything worthwhile. It was this ingenious side of their operation that he recruited to repair his extractor. If he could count on them at all, he could count on them to do just that.

They didn't take long to repair the small machine, and within four days' time the extractor was ready again. Shadow was about to use it when Team Rocket butted in.

"All right, you got your extriction back –" Jessie started

"Extractor!"

"Right. You got it back, now we have a favor to ask of you."

"If you want the wing back, you'll have to come with me," he growled.

They looked at each other, puzzled. "How did he know we were gonna ask for that?" Meowth wondered.

"I guess he memorized his lines," James shrugged.

"Well, fair enough," Jessie nodded to him.

_I can't believe I'm letting these idiots tag along_ Shadow thought bitterly. Nevertheless, he pressed on, and the environment faded from their view once again, replaced this time by the Indigo Plateau.

"So why exactly are we here?" James asked.

"Because I let you come," Shadow snapped.

"Well I know that much. What I meant was why did your job bring you here?"

Shadow turned away. "It's top secret, but I was told to meet my client here. His HQ is actually more mobile than I first anticipated."

"So what's the big deal with this thingy that he wanted you to get it back?"

Shadow looked at him, a distant aura in his eyes. "Even I don't know that."

"Well, I do."

Everyone looked up in surprise on hearing the new voice, though they all recognized it instantly.

"Aw, great," Meowth grumbled. "The talking egg is back."

The voice's owner chuckled. "It's quite the sight running into this group here. I was looking for Shadow, and I find three idiots with him."

"What do you want, Doctor?" Shadow growled.

"You know full well what I want, Shadow," Dr. Eggman sneered. "That gold wing you took from me is vital to my newest plan, so I advise you to return it before I take it by force."

"This isn't a negotiation, Doctor."

"No, indeed not. You're trying to take from me what I rightfully stole."

"If you want it, come and get it!"

"Okay, you little rat. You asked for it!" With that, a small legion of robots dropped from above and surrounded them. "Get the gold wing and bring it to me!" Eggman commanded them.

"Not today, fatty!" Jessie cheered, whipping out a Pokeball. "Seviper, go! Use Poison Fang!" Energy shot out of the ball, materializing into the snake-like Pokemon as it leapt forward to chomp on a robot, effectively destroying it. Sparks surged through its body, but it didn't even flinch, as it had become accustomed to much higher amounts of electricity surging through its body.

"Cacnea! Help her out! Use Pin Missile!" James also threw his own Pokeball, releasing the small cactus Pokemon. Cacnea obliged, denting robots with its small missiles.

Their lack of coordination, however, proved to be their undoing, and Seviper and Cacnea fell down, defeated.

"Excellent!" Eggman sneered. "Now, I'll take the wing and –" He never finished. From seemingly nowhere, streaks of energy appeared and slammed into the robots, causing them to explode. Eggman was shocked. "What –?!"

"End of the line, Doctor!" Shadow growled, holding the gold wing in plain sight. It wavered a moment...then disappeared.

"Nooo!" Eggman cried. "Pull back! Pull back!" With that, he and his remaining legion was gone.

"Well, that was a stroke of luck," Jessie shrugged.

"Hang on, Cacnea," James sighed. "We'll do better next time."

"Uh, guys?" Meowth muttered uneasily. "Who's that?"

"Who?" they wondered.

"Look up, you fools."

Everyone turned and saw a mysterious figure emerging from the shadows. He was largely hidden behind a cloak of darkness, dressed in a black suit with a dark cape behind him, a sinister hat shading his features. Only his mouth remained visible, and it was smirking ominously.

"Hohohahahahaha!" he suddenly laughed. "Oh, how ironic fate can be. I would not have expected to meet _you_ of all people when I returned." With that, the mysterious figure bowed to them. "But the pleasure is mine..._Shadow the Hedgehog_."

They cringed when he spoke that name. "Who are you?" Shadow growled. "And how do you know who I am?"

The dark figure began walking forward, slowly, his cape blowing slowly behind him. "I'm Mephiles: Mephiles the Dark." There was a pause. "What? Have you never heard of me? Then I guess your presence in this world means nothing after all. But that makes no matter now!"

He was in front of him now. "I owe much to you, Shadow." Shadow looked into his eyes and cringed. The pupil was slit, glaring in hatred. "But I have my priorities, and I will abide by them. Consider yourself lucky...for now. Not that I'll let you escape so easily. No...what your friends gave to me so long ago, I shall now return to you: a one-way ticket to oblivion!"

And before Shadow or Team Rocket knew what was happening, the Indigo Plateau disappeared.

* * *

><p>When they could see again, they were surprised to find themselves in a barren place. James was the first to ask the obvious. "Where are we?"<p>

"This looks strange," Meowth pondered. "I wonder what region this is, that it looks so bleak."

"Perhaps we're in Unova," Jessie suggested. "It's urban enough that it might look like this."

"Plus that generation was probably the worst. Too bad they don't get to see the stuff we've seen."

"But we had a good run out there," James shrugged.

"Eh. Too organized. I prefer doing things our way."

Jessie and James had to agree. Even though they'd been working to get promoted for a long time, when they finally did get it, they discovered how much they disliked the organization and lack of free room to work in.

"Well, we should probably go find a hub," James suggested to them all. "We need to figure out where we are."

"Agreed," Jessie nodded. "Let's go."

With that, the trio started off, leaving Shadow behind a moment. He looked around, confused and slightly worried.

_Who is he?_ he wondered.

* * *

><p>"All right now, no forgetting passwords and what-not," Meowth growled at James as he typed in the computer.<p>

"Don't mind me," the purple-haired Team Rocket agent retorted. "I'll have us in here before you know it."

"His hacking skills are legendary as ever," Jessie rolled her eyes.

"_Wooobbuffet!_" Wobbuffet agreed, popping out of its Pokeball. Jessie merely called it back.

"Okay, we're in," James nodded.

"Nice work!" Meowth nodded. "Now, let's see what's going on here." Shadow, who had been deep in thought the whole time, came forward with interest.

"So, this place we're in is…" Jessie read the text on the screen, then gasped. "Wait...what?!"

Meowth's eyes widened. "I don't believe this!"

"We're still back at Indigo Plateau...but how can that be?" James added his penny.

Shadow gripped his fists. "Impossible," he breathed. "Then the question isn't just _where_ we are...but also –" He couldn't finish, as he was too struck with disbelief.

"Is this an alternate universe?" Meowth wondered aloud.

"No, wait," Jessie started as she continued staring at the screen. "It says here the League was shut down when someone by the name of Mephiles stormed it by force and took it over. From there, he proceeded to torment the world –"

"Now hold on a second!" Meowth interrupted. "If this Mephiles creep is the same guy we just met, what does that mean?"

"It means the world's in trouble," James shuddered. "We have to find the twerps and alert them!"

"What?! Why them?!" Jessie snapped irritably.

"Because someone has to save the world."

"Why don't _we_ do it for once rather than just supporting them?! We could be the heroes for once!"

"But the twerps are better at it," Meowth reminded her.

"Shut up!" Shadow suddenly snapped. "Nobody's saving the world, and _nobody's_ going searching for the twerps, okay?!"

They regarded him with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"This isn't the Indigo Plateau you know, and there's a good reason for that. You see, we're not gonna find twerps...because they're _dead._" Team Rocket gasped. "They were killed more than 200 years ago...this Mephiles monster killed them...and he killed you, too."

"Gahhhh!" they cried. "Wait, that makes no sense," James wondered.

"As for saving the world...it's useless. It's been desolate for centuries."

"I still don't understand what's going on," James scratched his head.

"Well I do," Shadow finished. "We've travelled through time, and this...Mephiles…"

"Yes?"

He shuddered slightly. "When he took us away...I felt a familiar sensation: the kind I feel whenever I use Chaos Control. Yet Chaos wasn't all I felt. I felt something else: similar, but not the same. Even so, it had an ominous feel to it." They all looked at each other, worried. "We need a space-time rift," Shadow finished.

"Huh?"

"We need to get back to our time, and one Chaos Emerald won't do the trick. We need to find another one."

"But how will we –?"

"Whoaaaaaaa!" a voice suddenly cried, startling them.

"What was that?" Shadow started.

"It sounded familiar," Jessie mused. They ran off, cautious just in case they were up against a hostile force.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is mostly a rehash of stuff that happened in Sonic's story, so I'll upload something else right after this.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: The Future is Dark<p>

"Yugh. That doesn't taste very good," someone spat.

"Ouch," came another voice. "I hit my head on something."

"Yeah, _my_ head," said a third voice.

Meowth gasped. "It's the twerps from another planet!"

"How did they get here?" James wondered.

"...we used it to find Eggman, didn't we?" Sonic finished a sentence. "So if that's the case, it must be our location...wherever that is." Shadow motioned for Team Rocket to move. They nodded.

"How do we find out?" Knuckles wondered.

"If you men weren't so adamant, you could ask for directions," Jessie snarked.

The three of them froze. "Who's there?" Knuckles asked.

"I know that voice," Sonic growled.

"You're very perceptive, blue twerp!" Meowth grinned, and they dropped down from above.

"Oh, great," Tails groaned.

"That's right!" Jessie cheered, "Now, prepare for trouble, it's just what you see!"

"And make it double, cuz we're in HD!"

"I'm gonna throw this game in the trash!" Knuckles shouted, interrupting them. They glared at him in anger. "We don't have time to listen to your stupid motto! We're lost, we don't know where we are, and we need to find answers! We're not dealing with you today, so shut up and leave!"

"We know where you are," Jessie said.

"We can help you out," James added.

And why would we trust you?" Sonic folded his arms across his chest.

"You wouldn't," Meowth smirked, imitating him and secretly winking at Shadow so that the heroes couldn't see. He started to step out.

"I thought so. Then we need to find someone we can trust."

"But who can help us?" Tails wondered.

"Just say please."

They perked on hearing his voice. "Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed.

Shadow fully revealed himself. "Long time no see, Sonic. Think you could lend us a hand?"

The mysterious, sinister being called Mephiles stood atop the ruins of Indigo Plateau, glowering over everything with a hate-filled snarl. "The three titans of the air caused this destruction," he mused. "The great guardian rose from the sea to stop them, but it could not." He clenched his fist, surveying the destruction surrounding him as fire burned away at everything he saw. "And yet the world did not turn to ash. As always, I must do everything myself. Very well. I'll see it done."

A far-off shriek from Goldenrod caught his attention. He turned and saw the birds flying over there. A smirk lined his face.

"Hello," he sneered. "What's this?"

"Say that again?" Sonic's jaw dropped.

"This is the distant future," Shadow repeated himself. "We're standing in the ruins of the Indigo Plateau."

"How did you get here?" Tails asked.

"Well you see, what happened was –" James started, but Shadow swatted him, reminding him that they needed to keep a low profile.

"That's no concern of yours," he said quickly. "All that matters is that we get back to our time."

"As soon as possible," Knuckles nodded.

"What difference would that make?" Meowth reminded him.

"Yeah, good point."

"So how do we get back?" Tails asked.

Shadow looked over the ruined Indigo Plateau, a worried look in his eye. "We need a space-time rift. That's what brought us here in the first place, and that worries me."

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"That's no concern of yours," Shadow snapped abruptly.

"Right," he shrugged. "So how do we make this space-time rift? We don't have that kind of power, do we?"

Shadow looked him square in the eye and held out his palm in a familiar shape. Sonic looked and nodded. "I get it. Your Chaos Control will create this rift, right?"

"No." Everyone looked at him, eyes wide. "My Chaos Control alone is insufficient."

"You mean...you need someone else to use Chaos Control? You need...me?" Shadow nodded. "Well, I don't have an emerald on me, so how will this work?"

"There are many things time can affect," Shadow explained, then turned to Knuckles. "But the Chaos Emeralds serve something that transcends time. They cannot be erased."

Knuckles raised his eyebrow, or whatever he had. "The Master Emerald is here, too?"

"Of course. It transcends time. Did you not know that?"

"The emerald has shattered a few times in its existence. How does that work?"

"It makes little difference."

Knuckles nodded. "The Master Emerald has many mysteries to it. No guardian has ever seen everything it has to offer us."

"So the Chaos Emeralds are here," Tails spoke.

"If we could get your GPS to work, finding them would be a cinch," Sonic sighed.

"So what are we gonna do?" Knuckles kicked a rock in disappointment.

"We can help."

Everyone turned to look at Team Rocket, puzzled. "You?" Sonic asked, skepticism in his voice.

"What are you gonna do?" Tails snapped. "Wire it to blow up?"

"Don't be hasty," Shadow stopped them. "They helped me fix something, and they're in the same predicament as us. They can help."

"We'll get that PSG working again in no time!" Meowth cheered.

"That's GPS, Meowth," James corrected him.

"Don't blow my cool."

"All right," Sonic nodded. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this chili dog fixed!"

Team Rocket derp-faced. "Um…"

"Just don't dignify that with a response," Shadow rolled his eyes. _Could Sonic be any more of a ding-dong right now?_

As soon as Tails' GPS was fixed, they set off to search for the emeralds. Team Rocket flanked Shadow as he searched, which he allowed with caution. He'd always hated Team Rocket as a whole, and these three incompetent members were at the bottom of the food chain. Though they were little more than an annoyance to him, their affiliation with the criminal organization that took everything away from him was enough for him to hate them, even if they never did him any serious wrong.

_Then again_ he mused _I may have misjudged them. After all, they have helped me a little throughout this endeavor. And from what Ash has told me, they're not all bad. He even suggested that they may just be covering up a trio of truly good hearts._ He shook the thought off immediately. _No_ he growled. _They're Team Rocket. Anyone who associates with that organization doesn't deserve to be treated like they have good hearts. I don't know why they're helping me, but I will never trust them. They haven't earned it...and they don't deserve it._

It didn't take long for him to find a Chaos Emerald. His ability to sense their presence like radar drew him towards it like a magnet. As soon as he found it, Team Rocket regrouped with him.

"Ah, a Chaos Emerald," Jessie grinned, eyeing the gem with slightly greedy eyes. "I reckon one day someone will make a fortune off of one of these beauties."

"Over my dead body," Shadow growled.

"Sheesh!" Meowth put his paws on his hips (or whatever he had). "Lighten up! It was only a joke."

"You expect me to believe that?" Shadow glared at the scratch cat. "I know you three would gladly steal all seven emeralds if you could get away with it. Don't try to fool me into thinking otherwise." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving three confused individuals in his wake.

"Where'd he get that idea?" James wondered stupidly.

"I don't know," Jessie rolled her eyes. "Maybe from the shirt you're wearing?!"

"Hm?" James looked down at his shirt. "Oh, right."

"Come on," Meowth snapped them back to reality. "Let's keep moving."

With that, they quickly caught up to Shadow, who was waiting for Sonic and the others. They waited with him for about a minute before losing patience.

"They're late," Jessie grumbled.

"Probably doing something good," James agreed.

"I can't take it anymore!" Meowth snapped. "I want to get back to our time, and I want to do it now!"

"Shut it, Meowth," Shadow growled. "We're working as fast as we can. Sonic and the rest of them must have found something, or they got held up. Either way, I'm sure they're on their way."

"And now we're here," a familiar voice grinned. Team Rocket sighed loudly in relief. "What? Kept ya waiting?"

"For hours," Jessie sighed.

"Since when did you go so slow?" James grumbled.

"The fastest thing alive, going slow?" Shadow growled again. "Give me a break." He turned to Sonic. "Any luck?"

"Not much," he shrugged. "We did find some interesting things, like a mysterious person in a cloak that I swear I've never –"

"Wait, what?" Shadow perked, suddenly interested. "A man in a cloak?" _Could it be?!_

"Yeah. He was talking to someone I ran into in the present: a white hedgehog, to be precise."

Shadow clenched his fists, heart thumping. "He's still here, is he?"

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Knuckles wondered aloud.

Shadow ignored him. _This is between him and me. No use letting the others get involved._ "We have to keep moving," he beckoned, holding out his hand, revealing the Chaos Emerald he found.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Tails gasped. "You found one!"

"Yes," Shadow nodded. "I'll use it as radar to find another one, and then we'll be out of here."

"All right," Sonic nodded. "Where to?"

Shadow closed his eyes a moment, searching for the presence of an emerald, then his eyes shot open. "Head to Mt. Silver," he instructed. "The emerald should be somewhere around there."

"You coming, too?"

Shadow shook his head. "Not yet. I have some unfinished business over here. We'll catch up with you later."

"What are we waiting for, that stupid loading screen?" Meowth grumbled.

"All right, then," Sonic turned to head off. "Don't be late."

"Same to you."

With that, Sonic took off, leaving Shadow and Team Rocket in the wake.

"Seriously, what are we waiting for?" James asked.

"I want to find more information on Mephiles. He's here somewhere."

"Why don't we just look for him back in our time?" Jessie suggested. "I'm sure we can find something back there."

"He may not be there when we return," Shadow insisted. "I don't want to lose him."

"Yeah, well while we're searching for creeps in cloaks and what-not, the twerps are probably getting their butts handed to them by troublemakers. All in favor of following them, say aye."

"Aye!" Team Rocket said in unison.

Shadow ground his teeth. _Just another reason why I hate these guys so much._

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles arrived at Mt. Silver's summit and looked around, uneasy expressions on their faces. "Does anyone else have an eerie feeling?" Sonic asked obnoxiously aloud.

"Sh!" Tails covered his mouth. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"Yeah, me neither," Knuckles agreed.

"Then it's not just me," Shadow mused. The three heroes turned and saw their companions standing beside them. "There's something sinister at work here. I don't know what it is, but we need to be careful."

They nodded and continued onwards together. "So, what kept ya?" Sonic asked.

"None of your business," Shadow retorted. _Don't get involved, Sonic. This could get ugly._ "Let's just get the Chaos Emerald and get out of here."

"Eureka!" Meowth cheered. "There it is!"

Everyone looked up and smiled. "It's about time we found you," Jessie eyed the emerald, greedily reaching for it. "Now we can get back home."

"Don't touch it!" Shadow shouted, but he had hardly spoken when the emerald glowed violently bright, throwing Jessie back while a dark, sinister mass shot out of the emerald and into the sky, a frightful shrieking sound surrounding them. Then all was still, leaving the group stunned. Shadow was confused. _The sinister feeling has faded? Was it the Chaos Emerald? There's something seriously wrong here._

"What was that?" Tails wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Shadow mused, "but the sinister feeling has faded. Let's get out of here."

Shadow had hardly finished his statement when the shriek of a bird caused them all to freeze in place. The air around them started to heat up as the sound of wings pounding the air became louder and louder and all the more menacing.

"Get down!" Sonic suddenly shouted. Everyone ducked, just as a searing wave of heat flew straight over them. When they looked up, they saw a fiery bird-like creature majestically flying over them, glaring at them with a menacing glare.

"What is that?!" Tails screamed.

Shadow didn't know, but only one word came to mind. "Moltres," he shuddered, getting into a battle position.

_GYAOO!_

From a distance, a sinister figure watched with glee as the action unfolded. "Allow me to introduce you to my friend," he sneered. "Then perhaps you will consider my offer."

The titan of fire landed in front of the frightened group, eyes glowering down at them menacingly. The flames that emblazoned its wings, tail, and head glowed fiercely as Moltres shrieked at them once again.

"Is this about that time I dressed up for this part?" James squealed in fear.

"Or maybe it wants revenge for us foiling its rage all those years ago!" Jessie shuddered.

"I don't know what it wants," Sonic cracked his knuckles, "but I'm not willing to get barbecued to find out!"

"Hold it, Sonic," Shadow tried to stop him. "We need a plan of attack."

"I have a plan," Sonic retorted. "Attack!" With that, he curled up into a ball and shot straight at Moltres' belly, only to be bounced off and sent careening to the ground. "HOT HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" he shrieked, running around as fire burned his fur. Finally, he flopped onto the ground, putting it out.

The damage had been done, and Moltres shrieked once again, a ball of fire forming in its mouth. "WATCH OUT!" Tails screamed, and everyone jumped out of the way as a massive blast of fire careened into the midst of them, exploding on the spot.

"Didn't think this through," Sonic grumbled.

_Impetuous fool_ Shadow growled. "I told you we needed a plan, you dolt!" Moltres roared as another ball of fire formed in its mouth. "Leave this to me," Shadow stepped forward, whispering, "Chaos Spear!" A small streak of energy shot from his hand and scored a direct hit on Moltres' head. The titan of fire was clearly angered and, with a mighty flap of its wings, took to the air and began spewing fire down at them from above.

"Great! Now what?!" Sonic cried as they ran about in desperation.

"Why didn't we bring our Pokemon along for the trip?!" James cursed as they ran.

"We were told to leave them behind!" Jessie squealed.

"If only we had a Hyper Beam to incinerate that thing!" Meowth cried, desperately holding onto Jessie's hair to keep himself from being incinerated.

"Hey Sonic, I have an idea!" Knuckles called. "Throw me up there!"

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock. "Knuckles –!?"

"Just do it!"

Sonic nodded and gave Knuckles a strong launch that landed him right on the titan's back. Moltres didn't know this until the red echidna gave it a strong punch, causing it to howl in pain and thrash about. Knuckles lost his grip and fell back to the ground for a rough landing.

"Well, whataya know?" Sonic grinned. "Your plan actually worked!"

"For once," Knuckles shrugged.

"Look out!" Tails cried, pushing them out of the way as another stream of fire barely missed them.

"That was close," Sonic shuddered. "But now what?"

"We have to get it out of the air," James came up to them. "But our hot air balloon is back in the past. And without our Pokemon, there's no way we can hurt that bird."

"We'll have to improvise," Shadow agreed, impressed. "That was a nice move with Knuckles, but I don't think he could survive another hit. I say someone needs to distract it while Sonic goes up there and bashes it over the head."

"Leave that to me," Tails nodded, his namesakes already spinning as he took off. Sonic jumped up to him and grabbed his hands. Tails then began swinging his arms until they gave Sonic full launch power, landing him on Moltres' back. Once again, Moltres didn't know anything thanks to Tails distracting it until Sonic slammed it over the head with his homing attack. Moltres roared in agony, its flight becoming increasingly wobbly until it finally crashed into the ground, weakened.

"Nice strategy, Shadow," Sonic nodded as he jumped off the fallen titan's back. "You seem to have a thing for that."

"Unlike some people I know," Shadow smirked.

Sonic looked down at his feet and saw the Chaos Emerald they found earlier laying there. He picked it up and held it out. "Ready?"

"Ready," Shadow nodded, holding his out. Then they cried out with one voice:

"Chaos Control!"

A small glow appeared in between them, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound. Sonic looked at his friends, nodded, and jumped in, followed by Tails, Knuckles, and Team Rocket. Shadow was about to jump in when he heard a voice call him.

"Going somewhere? I thought you were looking for me."

He turned towards the source of the voice, but darkness obscured his vision. He turned back towards the time-space rift and ground his teeth. _Maybe another day_ he thought as he turned back and followed the voice.


	4. Chapter 4

**An epic battle, a mysterious villain, and the best Team Rocket motto ever! Read away!**

**Oh, btw, I have nothing against glitchxcity.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: An Omega Faceoff<p>

Shadow looked around the dark cavern nervously. The strange being called Mephiles disappeared after he decided to pursue him. He gripped his fists in anger. _I will find him...and the truth._

"Ah, there you are. I was getting lonely."

He cringed on hearing the voice, slowly turning to face its owner. "I wouldn't just let you run off like that," he growled. "I still have questions that need answers."

"Of course you do," Mephiles gritted his teeth. "And I know exactly what you want to know."

"Then answer me," he snapped. "Did you destroy this world?"

Mephiles chuckled slightly. "To an extent, yes, I was responsible. But at the same time, no, I did not directly cause any of this."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hmhmhmhmhmhm," Mephiles sneered. "This world was destroyed by the three titans of the air: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres."

"Moltres," Shadow repeated to himself. "We just defeated him."

"Yet he will rise again," Mephiles smirked. "The birds cannot be defeated as any Pokemon can be. There is only one who can stop them, but he is long dead by now."

"Who was he?"

Mephiles chuckled. "The Chosen One."

"Don't play games with me, Mephiles!" Shadow snarled, getting in his face. "Tell me who you're talking about!"

Mephiles' expression didn't change. "You know who he is, Shadow. Search your heart."

"You make it sound so simple," he growled.

Mephiles didn't hear him, as he looked out the window of the room they stood in, reflecting. "Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash." He turned towards a small object, a sneer growing on his face. "O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea."

Shadow looked confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"See for yourself," Mephiles sneered, handing the object to him. Shadow looked into it, puzzled, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw what was inside.

"I-Is that -?!"

"Yes, Shadow," Mephiles chuckles malevolently. "That's you."

"But how did I get in there?!"

"The world was destroyed when the harmony of nature was disturbed. Nobody knew who was responsible, but that's no surprise. After all, the one who was truly responsible was killed when he did it. Regardless, everyone was intent on pinning the blame on someone. Since people are naturally inclined to hate what they fear, they chose to blame you."

"Why would they fear me?" he growled. "I may have tried to bring destruction once before, but ever since I realized the truth about who I am, I've always fought to protect the world. They know this, and they recognize me as a hero."

"Yes, they do. But their recognition will only go so far. What happens when something like this comes up? Someone has to be responsible. Do you really think your heroism will save you then? Or will they remember your past and chain you up?"

"I put the past behind me long ago," Shadow growled, his temper beginning to flare. "That's not going to work."  
>"Oh, but did they? Do they remember what you tried to do to them? How you tried to destroy the world? I know there are at least two who do, and they are the ones who imprisoned you."<p>

"How could anyone be able to imprison me?! None can withstand the ultimate power!"

Mephiles merely chuckled. "There are some who can: some who share the same power. But even then, that is not enough. They must know how to wield it. Tell me, who do you know who can wield this power like you can?"

Shadow's eyes widened in horror. "No," he whispered. "You don't mean -"

"Yes, Shadow," Mephiles nodded, his sinister grin growing. "He is the one who will be your undoing."

Shadow clenched his fists. "You're lying!"

"Oh, am I?" the sinister being sneered. "Are you really willing to take that chance? Let me help you, Shadow. Let me save you."

Shadow was confused. "What do you mean?"

"He will be your undoing unless you do something to stop him: namely, take away his power. I can do this. If you help me, I will ensure that you will be spared this gruesome fate."

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed. "No! You're insane!"

"If you let him go on as he is, you will regret it. Don't be a fool."

Shadow clenched his fists. _I can't betray them like this_ he thought. _They've always believed in me: believed that I was good at heart._ His eyes softened with new resolve. _Now it's time I believed it myself._

"I won't betray him," he shook his head. "He always believed in me, and so I believe in myself."

Mephiles looked angered. "You choose to side with those who will ultimately defeat you?"

"I side with no one," Shadow snapped back. "I determine my own destiny."

Mephiles nodded a moment, seemingly taking this in. Then, with a flare, his body blazed with a menacingly blue aura. "I gave you a chance, Shadow: an offer of salvation. If you reject it, you will pay a heavy price."

"What? Will you take away everything I have? Will you break all that I am? All of me?"

"Oh, you petty fool," Mephiles sneered. "My power is so much greater than that."

"Then show me!" Shadow shouted. "Bring it on! Go ahead! Just try to destroy me! Even if this is my fate, it won't end that way, because in the end, I will always rise again..._just like a skyscraper_."

Mephiles just chuckled. "Such foolishness," he sneered as he pulled out a Pokeball. "Very well. Let's see if you can entertain me." With that, he threw the ball into the air, unleashing a fully evolved Venusaur.

"Hmph," Shadow rolled his eyes. "A Venusaur, hm?"

"Hardly seems like a fair fight," Mephiles taunted.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I should fight with my eyes closed."

Mephiles' smirk faded at that remark. "You'll pay for such insolence, you arrogant fool! Venusaur! Razor Leaf!"

"_Saur!_" Venusaur shouted, unleashing a large barrage of sharp, piercing leaves. Shadow generated a force field around himself and deflected them, then proceeded to unleash his own barrage of Chaos Spears. Venusaur was struck but hardly fazed.

"Watch this," Mephiles grinned. "Venusaur! Use Frenzy Plant!"

_Frenzy Plant?!_ Shadow thought in alarm. _Oh no!_

"_Veeeeenuuuuu...SAUR!_" Venusaur shouted, unleashing massive vines from the ground that swooped Shadow up and began to strangle him.

"Ungh!" Shadow grunted in pain, struggling.

"Worthless fool," Mephiles sneered. "You're no match for - wait, what?!"

Shadow was nowhere to be seen! Venusaur, exhausted from the Frenzy Plant, started recharging itself. Shadow chose this moment to strike, slamming it over the head with his fists and knocking it out.

"Nice try, Mephiles."

"Ugh! You insolent fool! Let's see you get out of this!" With that, he threw another ball out, this time unleashing a Blastoise.

"No big," Shadow smirked. "I'll take this weakling out, no problem."

"Try this on for size! Blastoise! Use Hydro Cannon!"

_No! Not again!_ Shadow thought in alarm. Blastoise charged up his jets before unleashing a powerful jet of water that slammed right into Shadow's location. But when the dust cleared, the ultimate lifeform was nowhere to be seen.

"Curses!" Mephiles snarled as Blastoise recharged. "Blastoise! Use Rapid Spin to weed him out!"

Blastoise obeyed, spinning around the whole chamber inside of its shell until it could go no more and panted in exhaustion. Shadow leapt out of his namesake and knocked it out.

"I've been going a bit too easy on you, Shadow," Mephiles sneered as he pulled out another Pokeball. "Maybe this will change your mind. Charizard! Fire it up!"

With that, the iconic fire starter leapt out, roaring in pride.

"Nothing I haven't dealt with before," Shadow taunted. "Maybe I should just shut my eyes for the rest of the fight."

"Your arrogance is your weakness," Mephiles snarled.

"As yours is yours."

"Very well, then. You asked for it. Charizard! Use Fire Blast!"

Charizard reared its head back, then fired a massive blast of fire that Shadow barely managed to dodge. Even then, however, he got slightly burned by the impact. He leapt forward and slammed his balled fists into Charizard's gut, incapacitating him a moment. Charizard retaliated with a headbutt, which Shadow took, then countered with a Chaos Spear.

"Use Flamethrower!" Mephiles commanded. Charizard unleashed a jet of flames that caught Shadow off-guard, effectively scarring his arm. Brushing it off, he rushed at Charizard again with energy surrounding his fist. He scored a direct hit, but Charizard was still raring to go.

"How's this for keeping your eyes closed, Shadow? Use Overheat!"

Shadow's eyes widened. _Oh no._ He braced himself for the attack. When Charizard unleashed it, Shadow barely evaded it by using Chaos Control. When he reappeared, Charizard was kneeling and panting.

"End of the road, Mephiles," he smirked. "You can't win."

"I seem to have underestimated your power," Mephiles nodded in agreement. "Even if Charizard put up a good fight, he still couldn't defeat you as it was." He chuckled knowingly as he held his wrist. "But now the balance of power will tip in our favor. You know nothing of our true power!" With that, he unveiled his wrist and tapped his fingers to a metal bracelet on it. A glowing sphere of energy surrounded Charizard's weakened form, pulsating rapidly.

"What?!" Shadow exclaimed in shock. "What is this?!"

After a moment, the sphere blasted open, forcing Shadow to cover his eyes. When he opened them again, the sight was one he would never forget.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, meet Mega Charizard X!" Mephiles roared in triumph, his newly Mega-evolved Pokemon doing likewise.

"How -?!" Shadow breathed in shock.

"Now you shall feel the true wrath of darkness! Charizard! Blast Burn!"

The black dragon Pokemon rapidly unleashed its powerful Fire-type equivalent of Hyper Beam. Shadow barely had time to dodge, and he decided now would be a good time to strike. To his dismay, however, Charizard recharged much more quickly than he anticipated, and slashed him with a powerful claw, knocking him to the ground. Seriously fazed but not undone, Shadow leapt back up and tried to punch the Pokemon, but a mighty flap of the wings threw him back. Before he could recover, Charizard swooped down, picked him up, and took him into the air.

"Now, Charizard!" Mephiles ordered. "Finish him off with Seismic Toss!"

Shadow felt his world spin around at a rapid pace as the ground came ever nearer. Then the pain of being slammed down erupted as Charizard finished the attack, leaving the ultimate lifeform battered and beaten to the point where he could no longer fight.

"I warned you that you would pay for your insolence," Mephiles sneered as he walked around Shadow's limp body. "Did you really think you had any chance against the power of a Mega-evolution?"

"You," Shadow grunted. "You…"

"It's over, Shadow. _I_ have won. Charizard! Finish him off with another Blast Burn!"

Charizard obeyed, charging up a powerful blast of fire that would surely kill Shadow. The black hedgehog closed his eyes, waiting for the searing pain to come.

What he heard instead was the sound of metal slamming something to the ground. Confused, he looked up and saw Charizard knocked over, apparently in shock.

"W-What?"

"What's this?!" Mephiles snarled angrily.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to take down the ultimate lifeform!"

Mephiles whirled around. "Who said that?!" That was when a large mech dropped behind him, shocking him so he fell on his face. "What the devil?!"

"What...what is that?" Shadow moaned weakly. Though the answer he got wasn't what he would have preferred, it was still a welcome surprise.

"Prepare for glitchy trouble!"

"And make it glitchy double! Fwahahaha!"

"To protect the world from glitchxcity!"

"To unite all peoples within our vicinity!"

"To denounce the evils of Sonic 06!"

"To extend our reach with a bag full of tricks!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket's saving this fanfic at the speed of light!"

"So glitch off now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"

"_Wobbbbbbufet!_"

"Meowth, that's right!"

There was silence a moment. "Um," James hummed. "I'm not sure that came out right."

"Another glitch?" Meowth suggested.

"Probably," Jessie rolled her eyes.

Shadow was in disbelief. "Team...Rocket?"

"Where the devil did you come from?!" Mephiles snarled.

"We've come from the past to save the future!" Jessie sneered.

"To ensure that Shadow gets back safe and sound," James added.

"Hey, Shadow!" Meowth called. "Take this!" With that, something launched out of the mech and right next to Shadow. His eyes widened.

"A Chaos Emerald," he whispered, slowly reaching for it and taking it.

"Give me that emerald!" Mephiles launched himself at him, but Team Rocket pushed him to the side.

"We've got to buy him time!" James exclaimed.

"But we're all out of money!" Meowth replied.

"Just engage the enemy!" Jessie snapped.

With that, they took to distracting Mephiles while Shadow slowly regained his energy from the Chaos Emerald. When he was once again able to stand, he charged a large red ball of energy in his hands slowly and prepared to finish the job.

"Chaos...LANCE!" he roared, unleashing a red streak of energy at Mephiles. He scored a direct hit, knocking Mephiles to the ground. The weakened villain slowly looked up at his adversaries, anger in his slit eyes, and opened a portal for himself which he slowly faded into.

"MEPHILES!" Shadow shouted, rushing after him, followed by Team Rocket.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Royalty, Artistry, and a Concise History of Advanceshipping

When Shadow and Team Rocket could feel themselves again, they found themselves in a town of sorts. It wasn't too extravagant, but it was big enough that they didn't know where they were.

"What's this place?" Shadow wondered.

"Hm," James hummed. "It seems somewhat familiar."

"I'm pretty sure we've been here before," Meowth agreed, pulling out a small device. "Here, let's check our records." While they did this, Shadow walked up to Jessie, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why did you come back?"

"Hm?" Jessie raised an eyebrow.

"Why did you come back to the future to save me?" he repeated. "Who knows what could've happened?"

"Consider it our good deed for the decade," she winked at him, a sly smile on her face.

Shadow rolled his eyes. _I should've known._

"Aha!" Meowth cheered. "I found it in Folder 8!"

Shadow looked up, puzzled. "You have eight folders on that thing?"

"Actually, we have seventeen," James replied. "And we get more as time goes on."

"Seventeen?!" Shadow exclaimed, incredulous. "That's a lot of memory space."

"Well, we use it for its intended purpose," Meowth shrugged. "It works."

"In any case, what did you find?" Jessie inquired.

"It turns out we're back in Rota," James replied.

Shadow looked intrigued. "Rota?" he repeated, looking around at the surrounding buildings. "I've never heard of it."

"It's an obscure town," Jessie agreed. "We're somewhere north of Pewter City and Mt. Moon."

"Mt. Silver's just a hop and a skip away from here!" Meowth grinned.

"And look!" James exclaimed, pointing in another direction. "There's the Tree of Beginning."

"The Tree of Beginning?" Shadow wondered. "If this town is so obscure, how do you know so much about it?"

"Long story, happy ending," Meowth smirked. "We followed the twerps here when they decided to enter a tournament. From there, all heck broke loose!"

Shadow looked at him, puzzled. "All 'heck?'"

"This is a kid's story," Meowth deadpanned. "I can't say the other word."

Shadow nodded, then something caught his eye. "What?!"

"Eh?" Team Rocket said.

"That statue...it's…"

Jessie's eyes widened. "Oh, don't mind that. That's just the statue of the town's legendary hero, Sir Aaron. He's quite the buzz around here, and every year they honor him with a tournament."

Shadow looked at her in interest. "Sir Aaron? If that's the case, why does he look so much like Mephiles?"

"I'd say it's more like Mephiles looks like him," James quipped.

"Hm," Shadow mused. "Curiouser and curiouser...why would Mephiles look like a legendary figure from ages ago?"

"That is a stopper," James agreed. "Maybe we should check Cameran Palace."

"Where?"

"The palace," James explained. "It's just north of town. You might find some answers there."

Shadow nodded. "Show me the way."

"Hey, now hold on!" Meowth snapped. "Since when are we your personal tour guides?!"

Shadow glared at him menacingly. "How about I just send you three blasting off while I go and look it up myself? Does that sound nice to you?"

Team Rocket groaned. "Just our luck," Jessie grumbled.

"If we got paid, it would be easier," James agreed.

* * *

><p>Though Cameran Palace was a place where people travelled to regularly for tourism, there were some areas shut off to the general public. After all, this was a royal home. There were few who were allowed to access these areas at any time outside of the annual festival: very few.<p>

Luckily, two of those few just so happened to be a certain raven-haired trainer and his bandanna-clad brunette girlfriend.

"It's been a long time since we've been here," May sighed, enamored with the magnificence of the palace.

"Yeah, it has," Ash agreed. "Too bad last time we got stuck saving the world again. And when I wasn't doing that, I was sitting on the throne wanting to eat."

"You should have come dancing with us," May clasped her hands and nuzzled them against her face. "What girl wouldn't want to dance with such a handsome prince?"

"Dancing wasn't really my thing," he shrugged. "To be truthful, it still isn't."

May sighed, slightly downcast. "Yeah."

Ash noticed this. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling weakly at him. "I was just remembering."

"What? Remembering what?"

She looked at him longingly. "When we were dancing after the tournament, I was hoping to dance at least once with you, but you were stuck on the throne."

Ash's eyes widened, then looked at her with sympathy when he realized what she meant. "Oh...you liked me even back then?" A thought quickly crossed his mind. "Now that I think about it, when _did_ you start liking me?"

She smiled again. "Well, I always enjoyed your company when we travelled together through Hoenn. Even if you did destroy my bike and all…"

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled nervously. "That…"

"Well, I always considered you one of my best friends, as you took it on yourself to teach me how to be a trainer and keep me safe. You were always there for me, and I loved that.

"But it wasn't until the night we landed in Pacifidlog Town that I realized that my feelings for you went beyond the kind of friendship two friends share. That was the day you looked me straight in the eye, encouraging me to go after my dream no matter what while you went to look for Brock and Max on Donphan's Island. That was the day I realized for the first time in my life, someone actually cared for me not because they had to, but because they wanted to. As I laid in bed that night, I couldn't get you out of my head, or the way you looked at me...the way your eyes bored into me, not with a condescending glance like my dad had always given me, but with compassion and love that came from an honest, innocent heart. That was when I realized...I liked you as more than a friend.

"But I also knew you were hopelessly dense, so I never thought to make any major moves to try to get you to like me back, because I knew it would only cause tension between us. So I waited for a long time. Then, when we saved the Temple of the Emerald with Manaphy, while we were in the capsule together while you went to finish the job, Manaphy's Heart Swap linked our hearts, and I felt in a very real sense the strength, determination, and love you had for anyone and everyone. That day, as I wept for Manaphy's departure, I also discovered a profound truth that astonished me."

She paused a moment to collect herself, and Ash nodded, indicating she could continue. She looked him in the eye, her gaze unwavering and loving.

"That was the day...that I fell in love with you."

Ash couldn't help but smile as he pulled his girlfriend into a tender, loving embrace. "If that's the case," he wondered, "why did you still leave? You knew you loved me, so why didn't you stay?"

"I had to have some sort of independence," she explained. "I didn't want to depend on you for my confidence. Granted, without you, I wouldn't be half the person I am today, but at the same time, my accomplishments would depend on me. I couldn't be selfish, Ash. I did it for me, but also for you."

Ash nodded, stroking her back. "To tell you the truth, May, the day you fell in love with me was the day I realized I liked you as more than a friend. When you left, I felt like a part of me left with you. That's why I was so insistent that we get back together again as much as possible. During that time, I also went from liking you to falling in love with you as well." They pulled apart slightly so they could look each other in the eye. "You see...I'm not hopelessly dense. It just took longer for me to realize what love is than most."

She giggled. "That's a fair assessment." With that, she pulled him in again, and they stood there, admiring their surroundings while they enjoyed each other's presence.

Neither of them noticed a hateful, spite-eyed glare coming from the not-so-far Mt. Silver.

* * *

><p>"This is an interesting place," Shadow mused as he looked up at Cameran Palace.<p>

"It's got quite the medieval feel to it," James agreed.

"I wonder how Mephiles is connected to this place...or to this Aaron figure."

"You think we'll find the answers here?" Meowth wondered.

"I'd prefer it," Shadow shrugged. "But there are no guarantees."

In order to get in without causing any trouble, Team Rocket donned one of their infamous disguises. Shadow was initially denied entrance to the palace, but when the guards recognized him, they let him in with his "friends" without a fuss. Shadow looked around, enamored by the surroundings.

"Maria would've loved this," he mused to himself somewhat sadly.

"There's the ballroom door," Jessie pointed, nuzzling her hands against her face.

"I'd love to dance for a while," James grinned.

"Since when were you two the romantic type?" Shadow questioned.

"Don't bother," Meowth shook his head. "Just let them be. We have to please the Rocketshippers."

With that, they went into the massive ballroom, which was empty, but there were numerous paintings hung on the walls. Shadow was awed by the detail put into them.

"What is that?" he wondered, pointing to one.

"That's Mewtwo," Meowth explained. "The world's most powerful Pokemon."

"Mewtwo, hm?" Shadow mused. "Sounds like he might actually be a fair fight. What about this one?"

"Aha! That's Lugia and the three birds: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, along with Pokemon from around the world."

The Pokemon in question were either flying or standing around a globe that looked somewhat like a Pokeball. In the center of the painting, a human stood, holding his fist to the sky, while at the bottom of the painting were the words:

_One person can make all the difference!_

"Who's that in the center?" Shadow asked.

Meowth smiled. "That's the Chosen One."

Shadow started. "The...Chosen One?!" Mephiles' words rang in his mind once again.

"Yep! Boy, that was some adventure we had!"

Shadow didn't hear him, as he continued pacing around the room, trying to piece together the puzzle. But without sufficient information, that proved impossible.

"The Chosen One," he mused, giving up for the time being. "Whoever he is, I'm guessing he's the only one who can give me the answers I'm looking for."

That was when he heard some peaceful music play from seemingly nowhere. Puzzled, he looked up and saw a boombox placed on a small pedestal not far from him. The music was slow, soft, sweet, and utterly romantic.

"Huh?" he wondered. "Who did that?" That was when he noticed two figures in the center of the room, slowly moving to the rhythm of the music. Shadow recognized one of them instantly, or so he thought, as it was wearing a dark cloak and cape. However, he caught a full glimpse of the figure's face and realized that it wasn't Mephiles...or Sir Aaron for that matter.

"Ash?" he said to himself, puzzled. "What's he doing here? And is that...May?"

As the couple danced, the music swooned, bringing peace to every soul in that room. Even Jessie and James were enamored with it.

"It almost makes me want to never steal Pikachu again," Jessie smiled.

"Finally, someone who speaks English," James agreed with a similar expression.

At last, the music stopped, and the couple came together and embraced.

"Thank you, Ash," May whispered. "This is a dream come true."

"Always, May," he whispered back. "Always."

They stood there, holding each other for a quarter of a minute. They broke apart and stared into each other's eyes with a loving gaze. Their faces slowly inched closer, their eyes fluttering, until they shut. Their lips were only centimeters apart...millimeters...almost -

"AHEM!"

The couple was completely caught off-guard, May jumping into Ash's arms, both of them wide-eyed.

"Shadow?!" Ash exclaimed.

"How long were you standing there?!" May added.

"Don't worry," Shadow shrugged, smirking slightly. "You're not in a secret relationship, you know. Everyone knows you're a couple, so there's no need for shame."

Ash shrugged. "Right...sure."

"Well, sorry to interrupt," Shadow shrugged, "but I guess this place doesn't have the answers I'm looking for, so I guess I'll just head to Mt. Silver on my own."

Ash's eyes widened. "Mt. Silver? Shadow -"

But it was no use. Shadow was gone in a flash, leaving Ash and May looking worried.

"We have to go after him," Ash muttered. "It's not safe over there."

"You go," May nodded. "I'll wait for you back at Indigo Plateau."

"Right," Ash nodded. With that, he ran out, still in his medieval garb.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay...a couple of things I need to get out there:<strong>

**1. The reason I haven't updated in a while is because my Macbook is in seriously bad shape right now. I've tried everything I could think of to fix it, but now all I can do is either wait for a lawsuit with Apple to resolve, or save up for a new computer. Either way, I'm kinda stuck.**

**2. I don't usually give a shout-out to guest reviewers, but I'll make an exception in this case for the guest who pointed out that it's been one year since I uploaded the first chapter in my first story on this website: Sonic Adventure 2: Pokemon Crossover version! Kudos to the reviewer who said that! As for commemorating the occasion, I don't have anything official planned, although I am considering going back and revising the story, weeding out the kinks and writing errors and what-not.**

**What do you think?**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: An Icy Silver

"Blast that Shadow," Jessie grumbled as they sulked on the streets of Rota.

"Just like him to leave us like that," James agreed.

"Where do ya think he went?" Meowth wondered.

"He said he was going to Mt. Silver," James reminded them.

"He'll have a hard time over there."

"Why do you say that?" Jessie wondered.

"The mountain's been surrounded by vicious storms for years. If Shadow tries to go there, he might get frozen."

"Well, you know how it is with him," James shrugged. "He does what he chooses to do, no matter what."

"A hard-hearted creature if ever I heard of one," Jessie agreed.

"Well if he doesn't stop himself, his heart'll just freeze," Meowth muttered grimly.

"Yeesh," James shivered. "Things just got a little chillier."

"Beware the frozen heart," Jessie shuddered.

"Hey, that sounds like a great name for a song!" Meowth grinned.

Deadpan silence followed.

* * *

><p>Shadow looked around, visibly angry. "Darn it!" he cursed. "I meant to go to Indigo Plateau! Where am I now?!"<p>

"Blast that hedgehog. When I'm through with him, he'll regret the day he was born!"

Shadow started. _Eggman? Hm…_

No sooner had he heard the voice than Eggman's ship flew off again, apparently unaware that he was being watched. Shadow closed his eyes, trying to probe his surroundings, and detected a familiar presence.

"Sonic," he mused. "I wonder what he's doing here." Suddenly, another presence registered on his radar, startling him. "What the...Mephiles? No, it's not dark enough. But who is it?"

The rapid pattering of feet interrupted his train of thought. Thinking quickly, he warped to a more secluded spot to conceal himself.

"There you are! I was wondering where I'd find you. Then again, I guess you found me."

Shadow jumped on hearing the unexpected voice. "Whathe - Ash?!"

"Sorry," the raven-haired trainer shrugged. "I just overheard you talk about going to Mt. Silver, so I felt obliged to stop you before you froze up."

Shadow tensed up. "Stop me?"

"Mt. Silver is surrounded by vicious snowstorms that have pushed many a potential hiker away. I don't want you to fall prey to that."

"_Pikachu_," Pikachu agreed.

"How thoughtful of you," Shadow rolled his eyes. "But don't worry. I'll be fine."

"Nobody's invincible, Shadow," Ash reminded him.

"That's not my concern."

"Don't lose sight of yourself," Ash admonished. "You nearly died saving the world, you know."

"Yes, I do," Shadow nodded. "I know full well that I'm no less prone to death than anyone else, but I was created to be immortal. I don't rust with age, and I don't die like that. Only extreme circumstances have the ability to destroy me."

Ash smiled slightly. "You seem to have a solid grip on reality," he agreed.

"It took me a while, but yes, I do."

"Hey! It's Sonic!"

Shadow looked up sharply and saw Sonic facedown on the ground. He grunted and got up.

"This time, there will be no interruptions!"

The hidden figures looked up and saw a white hedgehog standing over Sonic. "Oh no," Sonic grunted. "Not you again! Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I don't have time. The world's in jeopardy, and I'm trying to –"

"Silence!" the hedgehog shouted. "I don't have the patience to deal with your jokes right now. The Disturbance must die!" Suddenly, Sonic glowed green briefly and looked like he was viciously forced to the ground.

"What does that white hedgehog think he's doing?!" Ash ground his teeth, starting to stand up.

"Hold it!" Shadow stopped him. "Let's wait this out. If it gets to be too much, we'll intervene."

Sonic started to run away, but the white hedgehog stopped him. "It's no use!" the hedgehog shouted. "You're mine!" With that, he began charging an ultimate psychic blast.

"Okay, that's enough," Ash snapped. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt, now!"

"_Piiiiikaaaaa...CHUUUUUUUUUU_!" Pikachu screamed, unleashing a powerful electric current that coursed through the hedgehog's body. Sonic broke free, and Ash leapt out, standing in between the two hedgehogs.

"What the –?!" the hedgehog exclaimed, seemingly shocked. "Mephiles!? Why are you getting in my way?! I thought that you –"

"Who are you calling _Mephiles_, you creep?!" Ash stood up, facing his foe. Sonic's eyes widened.

"Baseball Head?!"

Ash grinned at Sonic and winked. "You do what you have to do, Sonic. I'll take care of this." Sonic gave him a thumbs-up and took off.

"NO!" the white hedgehog roared, and he tried to stop him with a telekinetic blast, but Ash deflected it with an aura blast. "You," he breathed, "who are you?!"

Ash grinned at him. "My name is Ash," he replied. "Ash Ketchum!"

"_Pi-Pikachu!_" Pikachu grinned, sparks on its cheeks. The white hedgehog closed his eyes and prepared for battle.

Pikachu suddenly glowed an eerie green, lifted off the ground and, with a grunt, the hedgehog threw him into his best friend. They both fell to the ground. They leapt back up to see him using his power to lift some boxes to throw. Taking advantage of this, Ash quickly charged an aura sphere and tossed it, stunning the hedgehog enough to let the boxes go. Then he followed up by punching him into the ground. The hedgehog recovered in time to prevent another punch and threw him back with his power.

"We'll see about that," Ash jumped up. "Pikachu! Use Thunder, now!" Pikachu unleashed a massive amount of electric energy at the white hedgehog. To their shock, he deflected it away, following up with a psychic blast that blasted them into the ground. They weren't anywhere near ready to give up, but they felt their strength start to ebb.

"We gotta finish this," Ash grunted. "At this point, there's only one way."

"_Pi_?"

"When he attacks again, use Volt Tackle," Ash nodded in confirmation.

Pikachu nodded and charged forward. When he consumed himself in electricity, the white hedgehog couldn't react in time to stop the attack and got thrown across the ground, skidding to a painful stop. For a moment, he lay there, unmoving, while Ash and Pikachu panted. Then, he slowly got to his hands and knees, then onto his feet, leaning on one knee while panting.

"Urgh," he grunted. Ash raised an eyebrow in concern. _If he attacks, we won't be able to stop it_ he thought. "URRRRAAGGGGHHHHH!" he cried.

"Now, Shadow!" Ash cried in desperation.

Shadow nodded and held out an emerald. "Chaos...Control!" Moving faster than the eye could see, he slipped behind the hedgehog and roundhouse kicked him onto his face. He laid there a moment, then, with a groan, got up once again to face his foes.

"Where did you –" he weakly started before Shadow interrupted him in rage.

"Shut it. You're not going anywhere. As long as I have the Chaos Emerald, you can't break free."

He leaned on his knee, still panting and shaking his head. "No...I won't give up. Everyone's depending on me! I can't lose...not when I'm so close!" He charged another telekinetic blast and fired it at Shadow, who deflected it. Ash, however, saw that he was actually about to slam Shadow down into the ground, and he whipped out another emerald and dashed forward to save his ally.

"Chaos…" he cried, just as Shadow noticed as well.

"Chaos…" he also cried.

"CONTROL!" they finished. A blast of power threw the three of them back as a small glow appeared in the middle of them, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound.

"Another rift," Shadow mused.

"What happened?" Ash wondered.

"_Pikachu?_"

"You won't stop me!" the white hedgehog shouted, unaware of what was going on. "I will destroy the Disturbance and save the future!"

"You mean Sonic?" Shadow looked at him, puzzled. "You want to kill the blue hedgehog?"

"His actions will destroy the future, where I come from," the hedgehog said. "Stay out of my –"

"Who told you this?" Shadow abruptly interrupted. _Could it have been -_

The hedgehog was puzzled. "Wha - What do you mean?"

"It's not complicated. Who told you that Sonic would destroy the future?"

"Someone who looks like him," he said, pointing to Ash.

"Me?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. His name is Mephiles. He told me I had to kill the blue hedgehog to save the future."  
>Shadow clenched his fist. "I knew it."<p>

"Huh?"

"I figured Mephiles was behind all this."

"Wait, what?!" the hedgehog exclaimed, apparently shocked.

"Yes," he nodded. "I know full well who Mephiles is. Granted, he's mysterious, but I know enough to know that he's not to be trusted."

"Wha –" was all the white hedgehog could say.

"The solution to your problems isn't killing Sonic," Shadow explained, his voice now soft and less harsh. "Mephiles knows this, but the truth is in the past." He gestured towards the glowing wormhole in front of them. "Follow me if you want to know the truth." With that, he jumped in, but the hedgehog hesitated.

"I'd take his word for it," Ash suggested.

He turned to look at his sole companion. "Why?"

"Shadow spent a good effort to find the truth about himself," he explained. "If anyone knows what it means to find truth, it's him."

"_Pika-Pikachu_," Pikachu agreed.

"What about you? Are you coming, too?"

"Not this time," Ash shook his head. "I've got other matters to attend to. Plus, I gotta change out of these clothes!" He wiped his sweaty forehead. "Sheesh! I'm getting hot in here!" Without another word, the hedgehog jumped into the wormhole. "Well, I guess that's that," he shrugged. "Now we should probably go find May."

"_Pikachu_," Pikachu nodded.

* * *

><p>Shadow found himself on a small ledge, looking over a dim expanse. Darkness hung overhead, and snow covered the ground haphazardly. The ocean surrounding him moved violently.<p>

"What is this?"

Shadow turned and saw Silver standing beside him, innocently staring in awe at the snow in his hands. "Are you joking me?!" he exclaimed in shock. "You don't know what snow is?!"

"There are a lot of things I don't know," Silver replied. "My home in the future is a desolate wasteland. That's why I came back in time: to save it."

Shadow's expression softened. "I see," he nodded. "Well, you can play with snow later. We need to stay focused."

"Why, what's –" he started, but a familiar shriek interrupted him as the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres viciously fought in the sky, their elements wreaking havoc all around.

Silver looked shocked. "Is that – It is! The titans of the air!" He started forward.

"No, Silver!" Shadow pulled him back. "This is the past. If we're not careful, we could change history, and not for the better."

Silver nodded and stepped back. "But we can't just stand back and do nothing!"

"Yes, we can," he pointed towards another island not far off. A group of humans and some Pokemon were over there. One of them suddenly dashed forward, holding his hands up and crying out for the birds to stop. His cries fell on deaf ears. Shadow eyed the peculiar figure and his eyes widened. _It's Ash!_

"What is that idiot doing?!" Silver cried.

"That 'idiot' is Ash," Shadow growled.

"Huh?"

"The guy you fought earlier before we came here," he explained. That was when a soft melody of the distant past entered his ears, taking all his attention.

"Then didn't I fight him later?" Silver asked.

"Shut up," he ordered.

"Hey, I'm just saying. After all, time is a relevant factor in this –"

"I said shut up!" he snapped.

"What? You don't like troll logic? Well, I guess it –"

"ZIP IT!" Shadow hissed, forcing a hand over Silver's mouth. After a moment, he, too, heard the song. Suddenly, a massive geyser of water erupted from the sea, quickly dissipating to reveal yet another bird that resembled a leviathan. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

"What…" Silver breathed. "What is that?"

Shadow looked him in the eye. "It's Lugia."

"Lugia?"

"Also known as the Beast of the Sea. It's supposed to be the master of the three birds. If the balance of power shifts, Lugia rises from the sea to restore it."

Silver perked as an idea crossed his mind. "Then...he will stop the fighting?"

"No," Shadow shook his head grimly. "'Alone, it's song will fail.'"

"What do you mean?"

"Lugia may be more powerful than the birds, but unless it recruits external aid, it cannot hope to quell the fighting."

"But...who can help him? And how?"

"There are three treasures scattered around this area," Shadow explained. "They are the Ice Orb, the Lightning Orb, and the Fire Orb, each on the islands of the same name."

"The Fire Orb!?" Silver exclaimed.

Shadow looked up, surprised. "You know this?"

"My friend Dawn has the Fire Orb back in your time. We found it while scouring Eggman's battleship!"

"Then you're on the right path."

"Huh?"

"You see, these three treasures, when assembled, will allow Lugia to stop this madness. But he can't bring them together."

"Then who can?" Silver asked desperately.

Shadow turned back towards the group of humans not far from us as he spoke with a melancholy voice: "The Chosen One."

Dead silence hung between them for a moment as Shadow silently lamented their situation. Unless he knew who the Chosen One was, he could do nothing to stop Mephiles. He was certain of it.

A sudden cracking sound snapped him out of his thoughts. "What's this?" Silver asked.

Shadow turned and took the tablets, eyes widening as he read the strange inscriptions. _The prophecy!_ "This...this is it!"

"What? What is it?"

"This is the answer I've been looking for!"

"You're losing me, Shadow," Silver deadpanned.

He looked up in excitement. "This is the prophecy about the Chosen One that I've been searching for. It may provide the clue that we've both been looking for."

"What clue?"

"A clue about Mephiles' plan," he stated.

"Well, you'll have to read it because I can't."

He nodded and squinted. "It's kinda faded, but I can still make it out:

_Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice or lightning,_

_Lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash._

_Though the water's great guardian shall arise to quell the fighting,_

_Alone its song will fail, and thus the earth shall turn to ash._

_O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three._

_Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea._

Silence hung over them as they pondered these words. "Hm," Shadow mused. "This is slightly confusing."

"'Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning?'" Silver repeated. "I can only think of one application for that."

"Articuno," Shadow nodded.

"Zapdos," Silver followed suit.

"And Moltres," they finished together.

"And the water's great guardian must be Lugia," Shadow went on.

"And alone its song will fail."

"And thus the earth shall turn to ash?" Shadow breathed.

"Then the world will end before the Chosen One comes."

"It appears so," Shadow nodded. "Then let's wait this out and see what happens."

So that's what they did. Soon they heard the song of Lugia once again, this time played on an ocarina. As the song played, crazy things started happening that words cannot hope to describe. The result, however, was absolutely breathtaking: the snow, the sky, and everything out of place was restored to its former harmony. The birds and their master flew in harmony, no longer in conflict.

"Was this the fulfillment of the prophecy?" Silver wondered.

"I don't think so," Shadow shook his head. "The world didn't end before the fighting was calmed."

"Either that or we're missing something," Silver mused.

"I never miss anything," Shadow muttered to himself. "If I did miss something, I'll do a massive facepalm later."

"Yeah, me too," Silver agreed. Shadow turned to look at him and saw that he was playing with some grass.

"What's with the grass?"

"Huh?"

"You're playing with grass."

Silver looked at the insignificant plant in his hand. "Is that what this is called? Grass?"

Shadow was astonished. "You don't know what grass is?!"

"My home was destroyed before I was born," Silver sighed sadly. "I've never seen anything that you have: grass, trains, and everything that I've seen...we don't have that in the future. All there is is pain, destruction, and despair."

Shadow just stood there a moment, amazed. _Unbelievable. Is this our world's destiny? No. The future is not written. We can change it. It's ours to decide._ "You've never had anything but that," he breathed in sad amazement. "Coming to the past must've been a big shock."

"Yes, it was. It's all so beautiful. What I would give for a future like this."

Shadow put a hand on his shoulder, his determined eyes meeting Silver's. "Then you go for it."

"You won't stop me?"

"Just don't try to hurt any of my friends and you'll have all the success in the world."

Silver nodded. "Then Mephiles really did trick me. So what do I do now?"

"Find the treasures...and the Silver Wing."

"The what?"

"The Silver Wing. It is said that Lugia will come to whoever holds the Silver Wing. With the treasures and Silver Wing in hand, you will be able to quell the fighting and save the future."

Silver smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Shadow."

He nodded. He didn't return the smile, but he was smiling slightly inside.

"It's time to return," he nodded, holding out a Chaos Emerald. It glowed brightly, and then a small glow appeared in between them, slowly growing more intense until a spinning wormhole appeared, humming a futuristic sound. They jumped in, ready to face the future...and the truth.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Let's Get Moving!

When Shadow landed on his two feet, he found himself, to his surprise, in another unfamiliar town. This time, it was smaller, though not without activity. Curious, he walked over to find out what was going on.

"What's all this about?" he asked.

"Rumor has it that Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town is wreaking havoc!" someone exclaimed.

Shadow's eyes widened. _Ash? Causing trouble? That doesn't sound like him._ "Where is he now?"

"I think he ran off to Pallet Town," someone else said.

Shadow nodded and dashed off, reaching Pallet Town fairly quickly.

"Fire nine!" Meowth cried, pressing a red button for the ninth time in a row. A missile launched right at their adversary, only to meet the exact same result: it slammed into an aura shield. "Gah! I'm so sick of being stuck in a glitchy game!"

"You said it," James groaned. "Whose idea was this anyway?"

"You insolent fools are doing nothing but proving my point," their foe grinned malevolently. "When the day comes when Shadow is sent on the run, you shall be the ones to lead the charge on his capture."

"Never!" Jessie shouted. "We know that you're the one who plans to do this; why would we believe that he did?!"

"Simple," he sneered. "You're going to be brainwashed."

"FIRE TEN!" Meowth shouted, fed up with his yabbering, and another missile fired, meeting the same result. Their foe merely laughed malevolently and disappeared into his aura, leaving them alone.

"Team Rocket!"

They turned on hearing the familiar voice and saw Shadow slide over to them on his hover shoes.

"There you are!" James sighed with relief. "We've been looking all over for you."

"What's the matter? Expecting a salary?" he spat.

"No," Jessie retorted.

"Then perhaps you wanted a Chaos Emerald."

"No!" Jessie snapped.

"Then what did you want, huh?" he growled. "I've little patience for -"

"We were worried about you!"

Shadow stopped mid-sentence and did a double take. "W-What?" he asked.

"We were worried that Mephiles beat you," Jessie explained. "We know he's got the power to win, and we just wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Besides," Meowth added. "Without you, who's gonna stop that creep?"

Shadow was reduced to silence. _They were worried about me? They wanted to make sure I was…_

…

_But why?_

"Anyways, he just got away," James groaned.

"We get a feeling he's heading back to Rota," Meowth piped. "If we don't do something soon, we may not be able to stop him."

Shadow clenched his fists. "Then let's go get ourselves some Mephiles meat."

The journey back to Rota was a little longer than Shadow wanted, but they still made it there in good time. The sight that greeted them was dismal:

Cameran Palace, once standing magnificently over them, was consumed in dark matter that swarmed about the place. Shadow ground his teeth in anger.

"We have to get in there," he growled.

"He's in there, isn't he?" James agreed.

"Where else would he be?" Jessie nodded.

"Then what are we waiting for?" he nodded to them. "Let's get MOVING!"

* * *

><p><strong>Can't have a Sonic 06 fic without that line. XD<strong>

**Anyways, yeah, I know this chapter was a lot shorter, but considering the fact that just about every chapter has been pretty long, I figured this wouldn't be a bad thing. Consider it the calm before the storm.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Man, and here I thought Silver's final battle was epic. This finale, however, spans the course of over 5000 words! I'm not sure which battle I like better: this one or that one.**

**Either way, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: The Final Confrontation<p>

Shadow and Team Rocket's mech slowly marched to the entrance to Cameran Palace, their faces hard as stone as they internally readied themselves for what they anticipated to be their final confrontation. As they approached, two Pokemon looked up and started at their appearance.

"It's them!" one of them communicated telepathically.

"Blast 'em!" the other one nodded.

Team Rocket wasn't having it. They lifted their blaster and fired, knocking them out, not slowing down a bit. The gates of the corrupted palace slowly opened inwards, and the anti-heroes gasped in shock.

All around them, the once beautiful architecture of the palace now resembled the grotesque interior of a monster's body. Slimy, lifeless tentacles adorned the walls, while a couple of liquid pools boiled with disgusting, yellow bile. At the end of the cavernous chamber sat a throne, on which sat none other than Mephiles: the Dark Aura Master.

"So soon, Shadow?" the villain taunted. "You disappoint me. I was hoping to have a little more time to myself wondering just how I might finish you off." He held up the yellow Chaos Emerald, grinning. "After all, you can't possibly defeat me. Now that I possess the Chaos Emerald, there is only one ingredient remaining to be collected before I swallow your world in darkness."

"You won't win," Shadow retorted, marching forward once again. "Even if we die here, you will never have the final word."

"Die?" Meowth repeated, slightly worried. "Uh, where did it say that in the job description?"

Mephiles merely chuckled, not moving. "Such bravado for a little hedgehog...and his cowardly allies destined to betray him. Of course, my offer hasn't changed. If you will take it, you will be spared. All I ask is that you bring me the only one whose power can defeat you, and I shall ensure that you live to see the next century."

Shadow stopped and looked up as an idea popped into his head, and he wondered why it hadn't before. "What do you want with him anyway?!"

Mephiles chuckled darkly. "I was wondering when you would ask. Frankly I thought you'd ask sooner. But it makes no matter now. If you won't bring him to me, then I guess I have no choice but to turn this world to ash."

"Why do you want him?" Shadow growled menacingly. "Tell me!"

"Insistent, are we?" Mephiles smirked in amusement. "Hmhmhmhm...I suggest you curb your temper. It may be your destruction one day."

Enraged, Shadow suddenly flew on top of the villain and pinned him to his throne. "Tell me, now!"

"Why?" Mephiles smirked, unfazed. "What can you gain with information that won't help you -" He was cut off when Shadow grasped his throat and squeezed viciously while Mephiles struggled to breathe. "Okay," he choked. "Okay! I'll tell you!"

"That's better," Shadow loosed his grip, but it proved to be a mistake, as the villain slammed him with his aura-powered fist, knocking him to the ground. Though he wasn't hurt too badly, he was stunned enough that he had to recompose himself. He stood up and faced Mephiles. Then he gasped.

The dark hat that shaded his face lay on the ground next to him; it fell off when he smashed Shadow with his fist. His face was now fully visible, along with his dark, hate-filled eyes and jet-black, unkempt hair.

"Who," Shadow breathed in shock, "Who are you?"

The figure merely grinned all the wider. "What's the matter, Shadow? Do I remind you of a certain someone?"

"What the blazes?!" Jessie whispered in shock.

"He looked just like the twerp!" Meowth gasped, equally shocked.

"It seems my cover is blown," the figure shrugged nonchalantly. "Very well, Shadow. I shall grant you your wish for an answer...but it shall be the last wish I ever grant."

"Then start talking," Shadow growled, trying to sound menacing while still in shock.

"It all begins with one man's story…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Come on, honey," he said, holding her hand tightly. "Hang in there."<em>

"_I don't think I can do this!" she cried, clutching the sheets on her bed. The pain was unbearable._

"_You're gonna be fine. Just hold on a little longer, and then it'll be over."_

"_I can't!" she screamed in agony. "It hurts!"_

"_I know it hurts! But you've got to hang on! Come on, baby! One more push!"_

_With his encouragement, the young woman on the bed squeezed her eyes tightly shut, screeching in agony as she pushed. The screaming lasted for a minute as the agony wracked her body. Then, at long last, all was quiet, and she fell back onto the pillows, unconscious. The next thing he heard was the sound of an infant crying. The midwife held a small mass of blankets in her arms as she brought it out. The crying was coming from there._

"_What is it?" he eagerly asked._

"_It's a boy," she replied, smiling. "Congratulations, Red. You've become a father."_

* * *

><p><em>Being a first-time father was a glorious thing for the world's greatest Pokemon Master. He adored his son as an infant, introducing him to all things Pokemon. Before the month was out, he was already looking forward to helping his son become a great Pokemon trainer. His mother, however, was slightly more ambivalent about this.<em>

"_When he reaches his tenth year, he will be ready," she agreed one night as they discussed it. "But let him enjoy his childhood while he can. He is so young and innocent. Don't make him grow up too fast."_

"_I had to grow up fast when I left on my journey," he replied. "But I guess you're right."_

_It made precious little difference. The infant was already enamored with Pokemon years before he could set out in his father's footsteps. This made Red very happy, and he could hardly wait to show him how to be a Pokemon trainer. Alongside being a father, he continued to train his Pokemon and exercise his duties as a Pokemon Master._

_One day, however, after the boy came back from summer camp, he talked about something other than Pokemon for once._

"_I met a girl," he said. "She got hurt, and I helped her get back to camp."_

_Even though everything else he talked about involved Pokemon, this one statement worried Red. He knew his son loved Pokemon, and he didn't want him getting distracted from what he wanted most. His uncertainty grew as his son continued to talk about her, and he finally took it on himself to consult Professor Oak._

_The advice he received was not what he wanted. "You're worrying too much," the aging professor told him. "Your son is going to be a fine Pokemon trainer. It's in his blood. I'm sure he'll get over wondering who this girl is and focus himself completely on Pokemon when he gets started. But even if he doesn't, will you still worry?"_

_Red knew what Oak was saying: "Just let it go." But he couldn't. He wanted his son to be a great Pokemon trainer. How could he do that if he was focused on some mysterious girl he met over summer camp? Uncertainty continued to fester in his heart, and his training slowed._

_No one knows what happened in this time. No one knows what drove him to do what he did. No one knows how he could have given up everything he lived for. But whatever happened, whatever motivated him, however he could do this, that fateful day changed everything in Red's world._

_Early that morning, he finally couldn't take it anymore. His son deserved the best training in the world, and he was determined to give it to him. So he got up, careful not to wake his wife, carried his sleeping son into their car, and drove away. By the time he reached the next town, his wife was awake. Confused as to why he left without a note, she tried calling him, but to no avail. Finally, she decided to go looking for him._

_She caught up with him two hours and two towns later, and was visibly angered. "What are you doing?!" she asked, trying to control herself. "I've been worried sick!"_

"_Honey, I can explain," he replied. She folded her arms and nodded, waiting. What happened next, however, was beyond shocking, as he suddenly unleashed a blast of power that knocked her unconscious. People stared at him in shock as he continued to drive away, but now the police were on his tail. He shuddered in fear._

"_Hang on, son," he whispered to his sleeping son. "We're gonna be okay."_

_But he was wrong. As soon as he said this, he felt his car lurch to a stop. The police had caught him!_

"_Come out with your hands up!" they shouted. He did as he was told, but a strange blue glow on his hands gave him a menacing glare. Then he blasted them with it, knocking them to the ground._

"_Stay back!" he shouted. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Just let me take my son home."_

"_Red!"_

_He started on hearing the voice and saw his wife, followed by all his closest friends, running towards him, horrified expressions on their faces._

"_How could you?" she whispered, tears in her eyes._

"_Honey, please," he replied, trembling. "It was the only way."_

"_No," she replied. "No, it wasn't. Betrayal is never the way."_

"_He deserves to be the best," he snapped back, the blue glow on his hands enveloping his body. "And I intend to help him become the best. Please...don't stand against me."_

"_I'm not against you," she said. "Only what you've done. Please, come home, so we can raise our son together."_

"_No," he replied. "This is for his own good."_

"_Sorry," one of the officers snapped, "but I'm afraid you're under arrest for kidnapping and –"_

_He was cut short when the glow on his body flared, knocking the police back. He was visibly frightened now._

"_Please, go home!" he said to his terrified wife and friends. "I don't want anyone getting hurt!"_

"_Give me my son!" she screamed, running towards the car._

"_NO!" he shouted, the glow flaring again and sending her flying into the air. She fell to the ground and hit hard. Professor Oak ran over to her, checked on her, then glared back at Red._

"_You," he whispered in shock, rage, and disappointment. "How could you?!"_

_Horrified by what just happened, Red turned tail and ran: he ran far way from town, from home...from his family._

_And none of his friends or family ever saw him again._

* * *

><p>"Red," Shadow mused when Mephiles finished his story, turning away slightly. "Who was he?"<p>

"The world's greatest Pokemon Master?" Jessie wondered aloud.

"Yes," Mephiles grinned. "Poor boy...so foolish to believe he could escape his fate."

"What happened to him?" Shadow growled, snapping back to him.

"Nothing, really," Mephiles shrugged. "He came to me in desperation, hoping I could right what he wronged. Out of the goodness of my heart, I agreed to help him, but only for a price."

"And what then?"

Mephiles chuckled; this was his favorite part. "He couldn't pay the price, so I killed him."

Shadow blazed with fury, barely containing his Chaos. "YOU!"

"So surprised, are you? Hmhmhmhmhmhm...It didn't matter, really. I was going to kill him anyways. His power was greater than anything I had come across before then. By absorbing his aura, I merely absorbed his power, draining his life away in the process. If I could have spared him, I would have, but I needed his power to accomplish my goals. Poor fool; rest in peace." Then he chuckled. "But no worries. I'll give you what you wanted and finish what you started."

"His son," Shadow mused. "The one he loved so much."

Mephiles looked at him, angrily incredulous as he walked around him. "Do you still not understand? Have you still not connected the dots?! What utter foolishness! I expected more from you, Shadow. But of course, since your world is doomed, it leaves little harm in spelling the truth out for you."

"You speak of a prophecy," Shadow muttered, trying to piece it together. "You unleash the titans of the sky, bringing the world to an end and consuming it in darkness. There's talk of a mysterious chosen hero. This Red figure wielded aura that you now possess, and you seek to destroy his son as well." He glared at him, grinding his teeth. "What am I missing?!"

"What _are_ you missing?" Mephiles taunted him, chuckling as he stood still. "One power can defeat you. One hero stands up to you. One hero fights by your side. Only one can face you like you face him."

Shadow looked him in the eye, his own eyes softening slightly as the pieces finally came together. "You don't mean…"

"Yes, Shadow," Mephiles nodded. "That boy, Red's son, is the one I want. That boy, your ally, is the one I want. That boy, your betrayer, is the one I want." He was standing right in his face now, grinning malevolently.

"_That boy...is Ash Ketchum_."

* * *

><p>"Ash?"<p>

Ash looked up, but he remained hunched over as a cold, biting wind tried to tear his skin open. He was shivering violently.

"What are you doing out here?" May asked, holding herself. "Good grief, it's freezing!"

"I know," he nodded. "I don't know why...something just pulled me out here." He stood up, still holding himself. "Let's go in."

She nodded and followed him, shutting the door after them. "Is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah. Why not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you haven't been yourself lately," she explained, shivering slightly as she suddenly pulled him into a light hug. He was slightly taken aback by her abrupt gesture, but he returned it like she gave it. "It's kinda starting to scare me. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Ash admitted, his hat shading his eyes. "I really don't know…"

* * *

><p>Deathly still silence hung over the corrupted chamber of Cameran Palace as the words of the evil Mephiles hung in the air. "So he's the one you want," Shadow growled. "Not me."<p>

"Oh, I hoped to recruit you to my cause, too," Mephiles retorted. "In fact, I'm almost tempted to let you leave this place, just so you can witness the destruction that will soon encompass your world." His voice's intensity, initially soft, slowly crescendoed as he spoke. "Then you can wail and grind your teeth as you slip slowly into madness, while all your friends turn on you like dogs. That way, you can writhe in agony as the Wurmples swallow you whole and wonder why you rejected my offer."

A moment of silence as Shadow tried not to digest what he was hearing. Then Mephiles shook his head, voice calm again.

"But no. I think our little game of Meowth and Pikachu ends here. So tell me, Shadow the Hedgehog...how do you choose to _DIE_?!"

With this final word, he lashed out at Shadow with dark energy in an attempt to impale him. Shadow narrowly dodged the attack and braced himself for battle. "I agree...this game ends here...but YOU'RE the one who's gonna fall!"

"Team Rocket, blast off!" Jessie shouted the battle cry.

"Surrender now, or you'll lose this fight!" James echoed.

"Meowth, you're mine!" Meowth shouted.

"_Wooooooobbuffet!_"

Shadow unleashed a flurry of Chaos Spears at Mephiles. They did little damage, but they managed to stun him a moment. That was enough for Team Rocket to release a small missile at him that knocked him skyward. Taking advantage of his position, Shadow used Chaos Control to reach him and slam him with two fists. Mephiles fell face-first into the ground, slowly getting up, a field of dark aura surrounding him. Then a dark pulse of energy erupted from him, going in all directions. Shadow took the full force of the hit, while Team Rocket's mech struggled but stood firm. Shadow jumped back up and charged at Mephiles, Chaos energy pulsing around him as he tore through the air. Mephiles knocked him away, but Shadow used Chaos Control to change his position so that when he hit the ground, he knocked Mephiles down, too. Mephiles threw him off and attempted to punch him into the ground, but another Chaos Control saw to it that all he punched was the ground itself. Another missile slammed into him, knocking him to the ground again. He stood up, seemingly unfazed.

"Very well, then," he sneered, pulling out three Pokeballs. "I'll finish you off the old-fashioned way." With that, he threw them into the air, releasing his Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. Only now, they were _all_ Mega-evolved.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Meowth shouted.

"Not in my book," Mephiles sneered. "Blastoise! Hydro Cannon, now!"

Shadow charged at Mephiles, unaware of what he said, but when he saw Blastoise ready his massive jet of water, he skidded to a halt and put up a force field to absorb the impact. It worked to a degree, but he needed a moment to recover. Blastoise used this to his advantage and charged him with a Skull Bash. Luckily, Team Rocket intercepted the attack, knocking the powerful Pokemon onto its backside. Shadow, now recovered, saw this and unleashed a powerful beam of Chaos energy, that sent Blastoise flying. The dust settled, revealing it to be knocked out.

"You won't get so lucky," Mephiles snapped. "Venusaur! Solarbeam, now!"

Venusaur charged up for less than a second before firing a powerful, bright beam of light that would have incinerated Shadow if he didn't use Chaos Control. He leapt behind Venusaur and paralyzed it a moment with a small Chaos Spear. Venusaur shook it off, but not before Shadow kicked it forward. Unfortunately, Venusaur wasn't one for this treatment, and it quickly reared itself back up and snatched the black hedgehog with its vines in an attempt to strangle him.

"Ungh!" Shadow cried. "Stupid Pokemon! Let me go!" A flare of Chaos energy got him his wish, but Venusaur wasn't done yet. Plants began erupting from the ground, determined to viciously strangle Shadow.

"Not this time!" James shouted, pressing a button that unleashed a flurry of missiles against the Frenzy Plant. The plants exploded everywhere, shocking Venusaur. Taking advantage of this, Shadow unleashed another beam of Chaos, effectively knocking Venusaur out of commission.

Shadow panted a moment. "We can't keep going like this."

"If we don't finish him off soon, we'll be out of stamina," Jessie agreed.

"I anticipated this," Mephiles grinned, standing by his pride and joy, Charizard. "Now that you've exhausted your energies against my other two Pokemon, Charizard will finish you off with little trouble." He turned to his Pokemon. "Fire Blast! Now!"

Charizard reared its head back and unleashed a huge torrent of fire that consumed Shadow. When the dust cleared, however, they saw he had a force field up.

"Looks like we're going defensive," Meowth grumbled. "This could be rough!"

Charizard rushed forward with a Flare Blitz, which Team Rocket deflected, but their machine started to smoke.

"We can't take much more!" James exclaimed.

"Then we take what we can, and leave the rest to luck!" Jessie replied.

"Luck?! We have the worst!" James retorted.

"Well, it's all we got!" Meowth chimed in. "Hang in there!"

Charizard unleashed another Fire Blast at them. Team Rocket dodged, but the heat managed to melt a piece off their mech. Shadow got caught in it, but he managed to shield it off again. However, when he let his shield down, he fell to his knees, panting in exhaustion.

"Game over, Shadow!" Mephiles shouted in glee. "Charizard! Blast Burn, NOW!"

Charizard gleefully obeyed, unleashed a super powerful fire attack. Time seemed to slow down as the fire made its way to Shadow, while Team Rocket gaped in horror. Shadow, however, merely closed his eyes in resignation, knowing that he couldn't escape this time. As he did, a friend's words came back to him:

_Nobody's invincible, Shadow. Don't lose sight of yourself._

_Ash_ Shadow thought. _Wherever you are…_

A sudden explosion jerked him out of his thoughts. "What?!"

"What's this?!" Mephiles shouted angrily. The dust quickly settled, revealing a fainted Charizard and a patch of burning fire on the ground.

"Shadow!"

Shadow jerked up, shocked. "Team Rocket!?"

"Don't worry about us!" James called. "You've got to focus on defeating that monster!"

"He's gonna destroy the world!" Meowth added.

"We're blasting off again!" they cried. "But it's a great feeling!"

"TEAM ROCKET!" Shadow cried, reaching for them. His arm slowly fell down as his eyes glimmered.

_They...they saved me_ he whispered to himself. _They sacrificed themselves...to save me._ A tear fell from his eye as he finally acknowledged what he had so long resisted:

Jessie, James, and Meowth really weren't all that bad at the core. All this time, their interest wasn't personal gain or trying to do their usual gig. Their interest was in saving the world, even at the cost of their lives.

"Such foolishness," Mephiles huffed, snapping Shadow out of his trance. "What's the use of giving your life for someone else? Wasted. Absolutely wasted."

"No," Shadow looked at him, eyes confident yet soft. "Not wasted. Not if this world that they love can be saved because of it."

"Oh, believe me, Shadow, it can't. Not now."

"We'll see about that," Shadow growled. Then suddenly, with a bright flash of light, his body glowed with a bright red aura. "This ends here and now!" He charged at Mephiles in an attempt to finish him off, but the villain disappeared before he could strike.

"Have it your way, Shadow," his voice echoed through the hall as simmering dust particles began converging on a common location. "But just what price are you willing to pay to see your goals accomplished? It doesn't matter how much you pay; you will _still_ lose. You're paying dearly right now to keep your stamina up, but in the end you will die exhausted and alone." The dark dust materialized into a massive, dragon-phoenix hybrid with crimson eyes. "The time has come for your world to succumb to darkness! And to make a quick start of it, your fading light shall be the first that I extinguish! Now, Shadow...bow down...BEFORE THE DARK EMPEROR!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Dark Emperor

Shadow wasted no time. With a mighty leap, he proceeded to use a homing attack on the monster that Mephiles had become. He scored a direct hit, but the monster was hardly fazed as it slashed him away, knocking him to the ground. He leapt back up and unleashed a barrage of Chaos Spear against the fiend, but it merely absorbed them. Then its eyes glowed an eerie green and fired eye lasers that narrowly missed the black hedgehog. Shadow used Chaos Control to sneak behind the beast, but it proved fruitless, as it whirled around and slammed him away with its disembodied claw.

"You little fool!" the beast screamed. "You cannot hope to defeat me!"

"If I had a dollar for how many times you said that, I'd get me an Xbox!" Shadow retorted.

Mephiles retaliated with an energy blast that narrowly missed Shadow, but the black hedgehog felt slightly dazed just by being near the attack. Taking advantage of this, the monster rammed into him with full force. Though he was fazed for a moment, he quickly collected himself and unleashed another barrage of Chaos Spear, larger than the first, against the fiend. It didn't do much better, and the Dark Emperor retaliated once more with its eye lasers. Shadow deflected them, then proceeded to ram into the monster's face with his full force. The Dark Emperor was fazed for a moment, but hardly undone, and with a mighty slash, knocked Shadow to the ground. Shadow was hardly fazed and leapt back up, unleashing a powerful beam of Chaos energy that did a good amount of damage to Mephiles' form.

"Impressive," Mephiles sneered. "Please, do me a favor."

"And what's that?"

The Dark Emperor unleashed a blast of dark energy that barely struck Shadow, but the burn was enough to send him reeling. "STOP IMPRESSING ME!" Mephiles roared.

Shadow recovered quickly and leapt up to slam the beast over the head with his two fists. The attack hurt, as was evidenced when the Dark Emperor's claws clutched its head. Taking advantage of this, Shadow unleashed a flurry of Chaos Spear once more, but his success still proved insufficient. The evil monster further proved this when it rushed at him, slashing violently and disorienting him. Shadow struggled to focus, but the slashing hurt. Finally, he unleashed a small Chaos Blast that was big enough to knock the Dark Emperor away so he could regain his bearings. The fiend charged him again, but he whipped out his credit card.

"What's this?!" Mephiles wondered, stopping abruptly.

"You know how to stop a charging monster, right? Pay it."

Enraged, Mephiles unleashed another blast of pure, dark energy that consumed Shadow. When it faded, Shadow had a shield up, but it was down to half its usual size. Shadow jumped up and slammed into the fiend with another homing attack, but with little success once more, although the monster was stunned enough that he could follow up with another double fist slam to the head. Regaining its bearings, the Dark Emperor unleashed twin lasers from its eyes that scalded Shadow's arms, forcing him to jump off. Then he unleashed another powerful beam of Chaos energy. The attack fazed the monster, but only for a moment, as it reared back and unleashed a blast of pure energy from its vile jaws. Shadow deflected this, but some of the energy managed to burn his legs. The monster rushed forward to slash at him again, but he used Chaos Control to escape, only to realize that Mephiles had trapped him in an anti-Chaos barrier. He was stuck! With nowhere to run, the fiend slashed at him mercilessly, until he got a grip on himself and leapt up with a powerful homing attack that ended in a powerful combo. Fazed but not undone, the Dark Emperor retreated a moment to collect itself. Shadow took advantage of this by unleashing another barrage of Chaos Spear, but his success once again proved fruitless, as Mephiles simply absorbed his attack. Then, when he had fully collected himself, he unleashed his eye lasers. Shadow narrowly dodged this and proceeded to use Chaos Control to get in front of the monster, delivering a powerful kick that blinded it a moment. This ended up hurting him more than Mephiles, as the latter slashed blindly, knocking him onto his back. Shadow tried to leap back up, only to find himself pinned by the Dark Emperor's disembodied claw. He struggled under the vicious grip, but to no avail, as the claw began to squeeze the life out of him. At the last moment, in desperation, he used Chaos Control to escape, panting a moment to catch his breath, not noticing he was right beside one of the yellow bile pools. Mephiles flew straight at him, intent on knocking him into the pool. Shadow looked up just in time to see this and nimbly dodged out of the way. Mephiles careened straight into the pool, the burning liquid consuming him as he struggled to break free, but eventually he sunk down, a couple of bubbles surfacing as he did so.

Shadow fell to his knees in exhaustion, panting hard as the Chaos aura soothed him. "Team Rocket," he whispered. "Why? Why did you sacrifice yourselves for me?" His mind turned back to an all-too familiar memory.

* * *

><p>"<em>Please, Shadow," she whispered, leaning against the wall breathing hard.<em>

"_Maria!" he cried from within the pod. "No, don't push that button! Don't leave me!"_

"_Shadow, there's no time!" she cried, holding her side. She winced. "If I don't do this, they'll get you, too."_

"_Maria, please don't go!" he cried. "I need you!"_

"_No," she whispered. "You just need to believe in yourself." She reached for the button one last time as she started to collapse._

"_MARIA!' he cried as he fell into the black, while she fell to the ground, a light slowly coming towards her, whilst she called with her dying breath._

"_I will always be there for you...Shadow the Hedgehog."_

* * *

><p>"Maria," he whispered again. "You kept your promise, didn't you? Yes...you did. And so have I." He clenched his fist. "Thank you...Maria."<p>

A sudden eruption from beside him shook him out of his pensiveness, shock filling his eyes at what he saw. Hardly finished and nowhere near exhausted, the Dark Emperor looked even stronger than ever as the yellow slime soaked into it, increasing its size as it glowered at Shadow menacingly.

"Did you really think I was finished?! No, Shadow. I cannot be defeated...not that easily! Now, you shall behold my true power!" With that, the fiend opened its mouth wide to unleash another blast of dark energy.

Shadow instinctively unleashed another barrage of Chaos Spear, regretting doing so as soon as he did. But this time, something different happened: while Mephiles absorbed most of the energy streaks, one of them shot into its mouth. The fiend shrieked in pain at this, shriveling slightly.

Shadow's eyes widened. _That's it!_ he thought with new fire in his eyes. _He may be invincible on the outside, but if I can get my attacks inside his body, he doesn't stand a chance!_ With that, he adjusted his strategy, now taking a defensive position.

"What's the matter, Shadow? Afraid of losing?" Mephiles taunted. "Such cowardice. I guess Team Rocket's foolishness rubbed off on you before they blasted off for the last time."

"Their sacrifice will not be in vain," Shadow retorted, "just as mine was not in vain all those years ago."

"Your foolishness is your weakness," Mephiles snarled.

"Your arrogance is yours!" Shadow sneered.

The monster unleashed a dark blast of energy against Shadow, but he dodged, launching a Chaos Spear at the fiend's mouth and scoring a direct hit. The Dark Emperor screamed in pain once again, its mouth open again. Taking advantage of this, Shadow rushed forward with a fist blazing with Chaos and slammed it into its mouth. The effects were shocking but disastrous.

For Mephiles.

The Chaos energy rapidly spread through his fiendish body, electrocuting it. It convulsed violently as the dust that made it up shot out in all directions, writhing in pain as it did so. Finally, with a massive explosion, the Dark Emperor was destroyed, blinding Shadow a moment before all was still and silent.

When he opened his eyes once again, the chamber was unchanged. Shadow looked at his Chaos Emerald, a warm smile on his face. "I can fix that," he smirked. With that, the Chaos Emerald rose from his palm, glowing brightly as his aura rose from his body, spreading out over the whole of the corrupted chamber. Anything the energy touched was restored to its former glory, the darkness that was Mephiles' throne room fading into nothing. After a moment, every last inch of darkness was gone, leaving nothing but Cameran Palace returned to normal.

"It's over," he sighed in relief. "It's finally over."

"Shadow!"

"Huh?" _Could it be?_

"Well, whataya know? You did it!"

"We knew you could."

His eyes widened in amazement. "Team Rocket?"

"Don't look so surprised," James grinned.

"You survived?" Shadow wondered. "But how?"

"You don't get blasted off by a Thunderbolt once a week and then suddenly get killed by a Blast Burn," Jessie explained with a smirk.

"But even if we would have died, we still would have chosen to blast off instead of letting you die," James added.

Shadow blinked. "But why did you do it? You could have died trying to save me."

"That's what you do for a friend," Meowth smiled warmly. "You look out for them."

Shadow turned away, fighting hard against rising emotions. "How do you know that?"

"Well, the twerps taught us a lot...looking out for us sometimes, y'know? But at the end of the day, there are more important things than what we want."

"_I quite agree, you insolent fools!_"

They froze. _You've got to be kidding me!_ Shadow thought angrily as the evil Mephiles stepped forward, restored to his original form.

"I told you I couldn't be defeated," the villain sneered. "Nothing that you do will ever stop me, no matter how hard you try!" Suddenly, dark energy swirled all around them, materializing into dark clones of Shadow. "Your power is petty compared to mine."

_The scary part is that he's actually kinda right_ Shadow thought. _I don't know where he gets it from, but his power is greater than mine. The only question is...why? Where did he get it? It's not just aura...or Chaos._

"It's pointless to resist at this point," Mephiles snarled. "I'm actually getting tired of it. Why do you fight for someone who will only betray you? Why risk your life for someone who will only persecute you later?"

Shadow looked his adversary in the eye, his crimson eyes blazing with passion. He no longer knew how long he had been pursuing this monster called Mephiles; time made no sense to him anymore. The Dark Emperor had wreaked havoc on his world...and worlds beyond his own. There were only a few things he knew as of now, after all this madness. Mephiles had to be stopped, this much was true. But it was his promise to his friends new and old that gave him the courage to speak his next words:

"If the world chooses to become my enemy," he spoke, removing his inhibitor rings, "then I will fight like I always have!" His rings fell to the ground with a clang as Chaos energy swirled around him. The dark clones that surrounded him readied themselves, then mauled him, but they were no match. Consumed with Chaos, Shadow blazed through them, invincible and undeterred in the slightest as he knocked them all out one by one. Nothing could stop him.

Not even the Dark Emperor himself.

* * *

><p><strong>Bow your heads low, ALL HAIL SHADOW!<strong>

**Say what you want about Sonic 06, but that finale to Shadow's story, from his epic quote that sums up his character to his plowing through those clones, was the most epic of all the finales. Heck, I'd say it even rivals the finale to the whole story!**

**But the final battle is better than his, I'll say that much.**

**Anyways, ****the story's not over! To read the full story, read through "Silver and the Chosen One" and "Sonic an the Silver Wing." Then, stay tuned for the epic last story!**


End file.
